New
English learners with visual limitations face all of the problems encountered by
all immigrants and refugees, stemming from their lack of familiarity with the
English language, and with much of American culture and bureaucratic procedures.

They
all need to (a) learn English, which includes becoming functionally literate in
the language; (b) become acclimated to American culture and the communities they
live in; and (c) gain knowledge of bureaucratic procedures related to such basic
aspects of daily life as housing, health care, food and clothing needs.

In
addition, visually-impaired and blind new English learners usually have needs
which are greater than and in some respects different from the needs both of
fully sighted new English learners and visually impaired and blind fluent
English speakers.

*Today, the majority of blind and visually-impaired newcomers to the
United States have little or no previous experience living independently with
their disabilities.In most
countries outside North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, assistive
services for people with disabilities are minimal or nonexistent.As a result, many immigrants and refugees with visual limitations have
few independent living skills, little experience on their own, and very limited
ideas of how to adapt to opportunities in the community.

And
even those who have been resourceful enough to develop strategies and
independent living skills appropriate for survival and independent living in
their countries of origin, cannot usually transfer the strategies, skills or
experience to the challenges of living ontheir
own, and adapting to new and unexpected opportunities in their new homeland.

This
makes it quite difficult for them to participate on an equal basis with sighted
peers in programs intended for the general population of immigrants and
refugees.

*The ideas that they can become literate and even aspire to higher
education are frequently novelties for many immigrants and refugees with vision
limitations.In many of the
countries from which they come, visually-impaired and blind children and young
adults have very often been regarded as pathetic figures, who are only capable
of learning very basic manual skills (such as basket weaving or broom making) or
certain specialties (such as music or acupuncture).And literacy has not been among those skills they could be considered
capable of achieving.Or, they may
have been considered capable of basic elementary literacy, but not capable of
higher education.And those who
have experienced vision loss as adults have often believed that their
opportunities for productive work, and for intellectual growth and expression
were ended.

*Newcomers with visual limitations frequently suffer from their lack of
knowledge about how to successfully adapt to the challenges which all visually
impaired and blind people face in this country in participating in education,
employment, recreation, or other activities available to fully sighted people.

And, when
they first come to the United States, blind and visually-impaired immigrants and
refugees are often not aware that, no matter how old they are, their horizons
can be broadened to include independent living skills, functional literacy and
even technical training or higher education.

Despite these limitations, many of
these people are willing, and even eager to make great efforts to contribute to
the well-being of their families, to broaden their own horizons, and to make a
significant contribution to their new homeland.But, no matter how much effort they put into learning to communicate
orally in English, they will not be able to take full advantage of educational
opportunities or obtain jobs which pay above-poverty-level wages, without
developing their ability to live independently, read and write, using some
accessible format, as well as to converse in English.

*And even after they become informed of what is required, they still often
lack the adaptive skills required for such endeavors, and must begin the long
task of acquiring them.But, the
adjustments that they must make in order to utilize the programs and services
newly available to them, are not always easy for them to make without extensive
professional consultation and technical support.

All
of this means that they face adjusting to their new lives in this country with
more than the average amount of challenges.

Immigrants
and refugees with visual impairments require contexts in which they can most
easily and comfortably learn English in combination with adaptive skills related
to their needs as people with specific strengths and handicaps.

They
need the assistance of specialists who are prepared to help them develop oral
and functional literacy skills in English, along with and through developing
necessary specialized competencies for utilizing equipment and materials
directly accessible to them.These
include:

*appropriate mobility and orientation aids, including canes and guide dogs

All
new English learners with visual limitations also need some form of
individualized instruction and problem-solving specifically adapted to their
particular needs.

4.The needs of visually impaired and blind new English learners which are
greater than and in some respects different from the needs of fully sighted new
English learners

Staff
in programs designed to help fully sighted immigrants and refugees usually have
little or no familiarity with the possibilities for, or abilities and needs of
people with visual limitations.Although
they are often sympathetic and accepting, they are generally not aware of how to
assist visually-impaired or blind new English learners, or prepared to help them
in appropriate or effective ways.

Such
programs are often ill-suited to the needs of these students because the
overwhelming majority of them are heavily reliant on teaching English and other
new skills through utilizing pictures, print materials, and other vision-based
learning experiences.

In
most programs developed to assist fully sighted immigrants and refugees, the
reliance on standard-size print, pictures and other visual cues, greatly burdens
most visually impaired and blind new English learners in acquiring literacy.But, by far, the greatest obstacle is posed by the widespread
belief of sighted instructors and other staff, that it is impossible or too
onerous to help these students to learn to read and write.The handicapped students, their families and friends, and instructors all
often believe that oral proficiency is all that is realistic for them.

But,
when they come to the U.S. new English learners who are visually impaired or
blind find themselves in a society that is immersed in print, where full
integration is dependent on developing literacy.In order to participate as independent adults, they must acquire
specialized skills to perform the literacy tasks that they need to live, learn,
and work on a daily basis, and they need strategies to gain access to standard
print materials independently, when necessary.

Fully
sighted adults who are emergent literacy learners have constant exposure to
print, often in conjunction with illustrative pictures and logos, as part of
going through their daily life activities.They therefore have some models of what written language is and what it
is used for.However, such
experiences are not readily accessible to people who are severely visually
impaired or blind.Their lack of
exposure to the wealth of written language that surrounds every fully sighted
person in this country, may mean that those who did not learn to read and write
through accessible media in their home countries do not even have the basic
concept of how spoken language can be written down.

They
therefore require exposure to accessible models of written language and
specially-adapted types of instruction which are usually not available in
mainstream E.S.L. programs.They
also need opportunities to learn English and adaptive skills in contexts
specifically oriented to their needs for non-visual cues, in order to be
equipped to learn as equals along with their fully sighted peers.

*The fill-in-the-blanks, unscramble-the-words, match the items in separate
columns or boxes, and other such E.S.L. skills-based literacy exercises can not
be easily understood by many Braille readers, especially those who are beginning
English learners.This is because
the tactual sense requires that information must be derived by experiencing a
moving narrow field of perception, unlike the visual sense, which allows for
simultaneous perceptions of various aspects of a wide field, including such
things as a page layout, chart or sentence formation in a single glance.

*Learners who are blind or visually impaired must be taught to use touch,
just as fully sighted learners are taught to use vision.However, since opportunities for incidental learning through the sense of
touch are limited, they must be consciously provided and encouraged.Children and adults who have severe visual limitations are not usually
distracted by objects around them, and therefore are not generally motivated to
explore and learn about those objects unless they are given the opportunity and
are encouraged to do so.Without
such encouragement and opportunities, individuals with visual limitations often
become passive receivers of whatever happens to come their way instead of
engaging in the active exploration and experimentation that is necessary for the
full development of their sense of touch.If
they have not been encouraged to become active learners in their home countries,
new English learners who are blind or visually impaired may be hesitant to begin
exploring their new environment on their own, and need special support in
beginning this process.

*The English texts and exercises available in E.S.L. classes and tutoring
services for fully sighted immigrants and refugees are often unduly onerous to
those students who are learning by using Braille.The fill-in-the-blanks, unscramble-the-words, matching exercises, charts,
and other such E.S.L. skills-based literacy exercises are disorienting and
confusing to many Braille readers, especially those who are beginning English
learners.Although such formats may
seem intuitively obvious and clear to print readers, they can be experienced
very differently by Braille readers.This
is because the tactual sense requires that information be derived by
experiencing a moving narrow field of perception, unlike the visual sense, which
allows for simultaneous perceptions of various aspects of a wide
field--including such things as a page layout, chart or sentence formation--in a
single glance.

5.What E.S.L. tutors, teachers and other staff in community programs which
primarily serve sighted new English learners can do to better help new English
learners with visual limitations

*Focus teaching on real-life situations, total physical response
activities, games that are accessible by touch and otherwise manipulating
concrete objects, arts and crafts, cooking activities, and field trips.When learning a new language, everyone can benefit from a wide variety of
multisensory cues to enhance and reinforce the meaning being conveyed in spoken
and/or written communication.All
students, including fully-sighted people, can benefit from having a wide variety
of sensory experiences to help them in understanding everyday contexts.And visually impaired and blind students especially need assistance in
utilizing sensory modes beyond vision more thoroughly and creatively.

*Find interesting alternatives to the usual reliance on pictures for
illustrating lesson topics.For
example:You could make
"auditory experience albums" by recording events and experiences on
cassette tapes, to use in class in similar ways you would utilize picture
collections and picturebooks.You
could also encourage all students to make "auditory experience"
collections of their own to share with you and the class.

*Consciously work to provide visually impaired and blind students with
direct, repeated, and meaningful everyday interactions with large print or
Braille literacy materials and activities, to overcome the knowledge gap caused
by their lack of incidental exposure to written materials in the environment.Label objects, controls on machines, bottles, cans and boxes, in the
classroom or students' homes, using the medium which is most accessible to each
individual student.Call students'
attention to tactile signs and objects in the classroom, homes, and during field
trips.

*Encourage visually impaired and blind students to participate in drawing
and other art activities by using thick markers, raised line kits, yarn drawing,
modeling clay, or whatever other medium suits them.

*Encourage visually impaired and blind students to use large print,
Braille, or tape recordings for keeping their own accessible records of homework
assignments, lists, letters and notes to friends and family members, or engaging
in other literacy activities, rather than relying on you or other sighted people
to do their writing for them.Give
them the necessary extra time if they require it, and invite them to write
experimentally, without worrying about code errors.

*Concentrate more on finding out about and integrating all students'
current skills and interests into lessons, as topics for demonstration,
description, and discussion.

*Direct visually impaired and blind new English learners to local agencies
which specialize in assisting people with vision impairments, where they can
obtain evaluation of their needs, find out about their possibilities, learn new
skills, access services and find products that can help them in living
independently, and get appropriately specialized support.

*Do not deny visually impaired and blind students the opportunity to
become literate in English by reinforcing their belief that there is no way they
can become English readers and writers.Instead,
become informed about possibilities for their literacy, and get appropriate
specialized support to help you encourage these students to practice literacy
skills.

*Help blind and visually impaired new English learners gain access to the
functional literacy skills and information they need.Depending on their age, health status and personal needs, and other
factors, they will be able to learn to use one or more accessible media for
reading and writing.In today's world functional literacy is very important to all
of our success, dignity, and perceived self-worth as individuals.Moreover, literacy is important for gaining the knowledge and skills
necessary to obtain employment and/or fully participate in community affairs.All of this is as true for visually impaired and blind people as for
everyone else.

*Become informed about the various resources and technologies which can
help you provide students who have visual limitations with access to the same
wealth of information that is available to your fully sighted students.

*Utilize wholistic literacy teaching to tap into all students' strengths
and knowledge, and to avoid the fill-in-the-blanks, unscramble-the-words, and
other such literacy exercises that are most confusing for users of Braille to
follow and participate in doing, because of their narrow field of tactile
perception.

*In reading activities, fully include visually impaired and blind students
by providing accessible forms of the materials, and encouraging them to fully
participate by using the materials in the same ways as their sighted peers, as
much as possible, at their current reading competency levels.When deciding on what is most feasible, you should always keep in mind
that the primary goal is not anyone's temporary convenience, but (as with fully
sighted new English learners) providing the kinds of opportunities which do not
short-circuit students' real reading practice.

*In writing activities, fully include visually impaired and blind students
by encouraging them to participate by writing in whatever format is accessible
to them, in the same ways as their sighted peers (as much as possible, at their
current writing competency levels) and then reading their own writing back to
you or the class when everyone else is doing that kind of activity; or having it
transcribed into standard print later by whatever means is most convenient.Once again, you should always keep in mind that the primary goal is not
anyone's temporary convenience, but (as with fully sighted new English learners)
providing the kinds of opportunities which do not short-circuit students' real
writing practice.

*If your program includes providing on-site computers for fully sighted
new English learners to use, make it your responsibility to ensure that at least
one of those computers has fully functional hardware and software for screen
enlargement, Braille display and voice accessibility, to enable visually
impaired and blind students to fully participate in computer-based activities.

Because
they cannot usually benefit from the use of visual cues, such as pictures,
gestures, or standard-size print in their interactions with sighted people, and
cannot always obtain the services of competent interpreters when they require
them, visually impaired and blind immigrants and refugees, much more than their
fully sighted peers, need to prioritize:

*learning how to communicate orally in English with housing authority
management, doctors and social service providers, etc.

*developing the necessary listening skills to understand when forms,
personal mail and other informational materials in English are read to them by
sighted fluent English-speaking assistants, and learning how to respond to
questions on forms in English

*learning how to understand and respond to basic English language
instructions spoken by strangers on the street, and by bus and taxi drivers

*understanding English language information and training provided orally
by instructors, counselors and other staff in mainstream community programs

They
also need to learn:

*how to communicate specialized needs to instructors and staff in
mainstream programs, so that they are able to effectively access such community
services independently

*What their rights are

*how to advocate for themselves

*how to gain help in obtaining study materials in accessible formats

*how to arrange for and coordinate the special kinds of support services
they require to fully and successfully participate in community programs and
employment (when desired) along with their sighted peers

7.The needs of visually impaired and blind new English learners which are
greater than and in some respects different from the needs of visually impaired
and blind fluent English speakers

Visually-impaired
and blind newcomers to our country who have not had previous experience living
independently with their handicaps, require individualized adapted English
language tutoring to prepare them for and support them in programs which
specialize in teaching visually-impaired and blind people skills for independent
living.Most of the staff in such
programs are sympathetic to new English learners, but lack the expertise,
training, and resources to most effectively provide such students with
linguistically comprehensible learning contexts.

*Agencies for the Blind and visually impaired generally provide
instruction, training and other services which are heavily reliant on
participants' familiarity with oral English as a communication vehicle.However, this is precisely the area in which immigrants and refugees are
most often at the greatest disadvantage.Such
students therefore require English lessons specifically focused on developing
the basic communication skills which can enable them to understand and respond
adequately to the specialized information provided by instructors, trainers,
counselors and other staff, so that they can fully benefit from the important
training and services available from these agencies.

*Although bilingual interpreters can be of significant help to these
students in becoming aware of the specialized services and opportunities
available to them, and in supporting them while they are enrolled in the
programs, the students' learning of adaptive skills is greatly accelerated when
they can understand and communicate directly in English with the instructors who
are teaching the adaptive skills.

*In most programs developed to assist fluent English-speaking
visually-impaired and blind people, the reliance on oral English proficiency
also greatly burdens most new English learners in acquiring functional literacy.Those students who have not yet developed the capacity to understand
spoken English have great difficulty comprehending the meaning of oral
instruction in the Braille code, large print or computer literacy, even when the
oral instruction is interpreted for them by competent bilingual assistants.It is therefore difficult for these students to effectively become
authentic readers and writers using accessible literacy skills, unless they can
learn these in conjunction with learning English.

*New English learners may have particular difficulties learning the
Braille code because of its inconsistencies, which tend to mask, confuse, or
contradict the cues that normally allow the sighted beginning English print
reader to learn the language patterns that facilitate efficient reading.For example:in Grade 2 Braille, the words doing, undo, and do are written with
different character patterns, thereby making it difficult for the new English
reader and writer to readily recognize the "do" stem.Similarly, total and totally, and child and children (chn), are written
with somewhat different character patterns, often causing confusion.Problems also arise from contradictory use of Braille signs in relation
to pronunciation and syllabication, etc.

*All immigrants and refugees need to learn the geography of their local
area, how to ask for and understand directions when traveling to new places,
where to find important buildings such as government offices and schools.But, visually impaired and blind people have the additional task of
becoming familiar with their new environment in conjunction with acquiring new
adaptive mobility skills, and without the benefit of most or all visual cues.In order to develop independent traveling skills, they often first need
to learn how to understand English-speaking mobility trainers.Although bilingual interpreters play a vital role in assisting students
at the beginning of mobility training, students' learning of mobility skills is
greatly accelerated when they can understand and communicate directly with the
mobility trainer.

Because
they have often not received independent living skills training in their
countries of origin, immigrants and refugees with long-standing eye conditions
are just as likely to face this double challenge as the newly visually impaired
or blinded person.

*learn how to effectively communicate in English as part of such everyday
tasks as taking a bus, taxi or accessible van, which for them necessarily
entails asking for help from drivers

*learn how to use English terminology for and understand how to use U.S.
currency (bills and coins) and how to identify various denominations of each by
touch

*learn how to use reduced-fare bus passes and taxi scrip

*learn how to appropriately and effectively interact with people in
stores, when paying rent and other bills, etc.

*become competent in asking people for help in finding streets and
specific addresses on a regular ongoing basis

*learn to speak in English to deal with accidents and emergencies

*be prepared to talk to police officers:asking for assistance and understanding commands

*develop knowledge of personal rights and self-advocacy skills necessary
in the United States

fluent
English-speaking visually impaired and blind people must learn many of the same
skills, but they are not struggling with the additional burden of learning a new
language and becoming orientated to a new culture at the same time.

8.What instructors and other staff in programs for visually impaired and
blind fluent English speakers can do to better help new English learners in
their programs

*Give beginning English learners the opportunity to develop some basic
skill in their new language and basic orientation to the new culture before
enrolling them in orientation and training programs, in order to insure that
they can gain optimum benefit from the specialized instruction offered.This can best be achieved by obtaining the services of professional E.S.L.
teachers and tutors who are equipped to meet these students' special needs in
learning independent living skills and functional literacy.In consultation with the counselors and instructors in the program, the
E.S.L. professionals can help the students develop the English proficiency and
cultural understanding necessary and desirable for their entry into the
orientation and training program.

Even if
bilingual interpreters are provided, students often miss out on learning
important aspects of skills if they are not yet ready to comprehend the
information to some degree themselves in English.We recommend that students should only enter orientation and training
programs (a) when they can demonstrate a basic grasp of the concepts and
instructions in English in the areas in which they will be receiving training;
(b) when their English language usage in everyday conversations, in predictable
situations and commonplace discussions, is generally fluent, and close enough to
the standard manner of usage to be readily understood by the staff in the
program; (c) when they can fairly clearly express everyday conversational
meanings by initiating spontaneous verbalizations in English (even if they have
many structural errors); and (d) when their reading and writing skills are
functional enough (even if low) to meaningfully deal with tasks required of
students in the program.

*Recognize that literacy is not an abstract collection of skills, but
integrally tied to a specific language.In
order to be truly literate in English one must understand that language, and
someone who is literate in English may not be literate in French or Thai.Literacy requires not only an understanding of a code, but also
functional understanding of the language the code represents.Reading and writing are language components which develop in intimate
interactions with listening and speaking.None
of them can be easily learned as isolated skills separated from the others.For Braille, large print, or computer literacy to be of real use to
students whose first language is not English, these codes must be learned as an
integral part of learning English as a second language.

At all
ages, people acquire functional language skills when they need or desire to
communicate through language, whether by expressing meaning through speaking and
writing, or by receiving meaning through listening and reading.In either case, meaningful communication involves ongoing interactions
between the speaker and listener and between the reader and writer.Therefore, literacy should not be viewed or taught simply as a skill of
decoding symbols into verbal language, and encoding spoken language and thoughts
into written symbols.Instead teachers and tutors need to help students learn the
process of developing the capacity to communicate meaning and store ideas, at
various levels of proficiency, from the rudimentary to the highly
sophisticated--as they find themselves in a variety of educational, social, and
cultural contexts throughout life.

*Utilize the language experience approach to literacy instruction.Try teaching students to read words, sentences, and stories derived from
their dictations to you, based on their own oral language and real-life
experiences.These are the reading
materials that require the least explanation, and are therefore the most
accessible to all new readers, and especially to new English learners.In addition, writing students' ideas down for them provides a
model of how they can write their own ideas down for themselves, and therefore
begin to use literacy in real life situations beyond school or the training
center.

*Keep in mind the confusions, maskings and inconsistencies of the Braille
code, and hold off instructing new English learners in Grade 2 Braille until
they have a fairly good grasp of the spelling and pronunciation patterns of
standard English.Rushing new English learners into Grade 2 Braille often
causes them to become confused about pronunciations, spellings and other aspects
of English, and may actually slow down their acquisition of authentic reading
and writing proficiency.For some
students this will come more quickly than for others.Once they have reached a high enough English proficiency level, they will
be more able to benefit from Grade 2 contractions and less likely to be confused
by them.

*New English learners with visual limitations who wish to attend college
or technical school need to develop basic English literacy skills for reading
textbooks and literature, writing essays, taking tests, and taking notes from
books or classroom boards, by using their main literacy medium.These students require intensive and high-quality instruction in academic
English literacy by a professional who is knowledgeable about teaching English
as a second language, utilizing Braille, large print and accessible computer
technology to attain an adequate level of academic English literacy skills.

*New English learners who are visually impaired or blind need access to
specialized E.S.L. instruction on a consistent and ongoing basis to develop
functional English communications skills which will enable them to perform
necessary tasks at home, in school, in the community, and at work.

For these
students, learning the new language is a prerequisite for gaining access to
print independently, through recorded media, accessible computers, the
assistance of sighted readers, radio reading services, or other accessible
media.

*Find out about and integrate all students' current skills and interests
into lessons, as topics for demonstration, description, and discussion, so that
new English learners have opportunities to demonstrate the real strengths they
have.

*Obtain the assistance of E.S.L. professionals who are familiar with the
special needs of visually impaired and blind new English learners, to assist in
evaluating studentsí needs, current skills, and in determining appropriate
specialized support.

Immigrants
and refugees with visual impairments must operate at a higher cognitive level
than either fully sighted new English learners or fluent English-speaking people
with vision impairments because they are faced with the triple challenge of
learning adaptive skills, learning about the new culture, and developing oral
proficiency in communicating in English simply to begin to live independently.All three challenges must be tackled simultaneously if they are to begin
to utilize any services which require them to leave their homes without constant
assistance from and dependence on sighted family members and friends.